Contents

History

What is now Anamosa was founded as the settlement of Buffalo Forks in 1838 and incorporated as Lexington in 1856.[2] Lexington was a very popular name for towns at that time, so when Lexington chose to become incorporated as a city in 1877, the name was changed to Anamosa to avoid mail delivery confusion. There are many different stories on how Anamosa was chosen as a name, but all center around a local Native American girl named Anamosa, which means white fawn. Interestingly enough, a deaf man who ran, wrote for and edited the local newspaper (The Eureka) was the one who suggested the name Anamosa. His name was Edmund Booth and was a prominent leader in the national deaf community at the time. In Anamosa's early days, many important buildings such as the post office and the church, sat on the street which used to be land Booth owned. When Booth died in 1905, every store in town closed to mourn his death.

The romantic origin of the naming of the town of Anamosa comes from its early history. A Native American family passing through town in 1842. The family stayed at the Ford House. The little girl, named Anamosa, endeared herself to the townspeople and following the family's departure from town, local citizens decided to name their town after her.[3]

Legend of the name of the river that flows through Anamosa—Wapsipinicon: A Native American maiden and her lover threw themselves off a bluff overlooking the Wapsipinicon River. Legend has it that one was named Wapsi, the other Pinicon. Origins of this legend are unconfirmed.

Anamosa was named the Pumpkin Capital of Iowa by the Iowa State Legislature in 1993 and subsequently hosts Pumpkinfest, a pumpkin festival and weigh-off, each October.